


On the Low

by trashkingtater



Category: Marvel 616
Genre: First Kiss, Food Sharing as a Love Language, Height Differences, Kidnapping, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25586158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashkingtater/pseuds/trashkingtater
Summary: Bucky can’t stand how aloof Barton is when given instructions. He hates that Barton never takes anything seriously out in the field. It drives him up a wall knowing how Barton is probably one of the most competent agents he’s ever worked with; if only he’d stop pretending to be such a dumbass.The thing he hates most, though? Those small moments where Barton really shines and reminds Bucky he doesn’t hate the man at all.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 26
Kudos: 118





	On the Low

**Author's Note:**

> For Ale, you deserve nothing but good things.

Barton shows up at the meeting location with seventeen seconds to spare. It’s nearing close to four in the morning, and he had bets that the other man would oversleep. Bucky had been there for fifteen minutes already, in an old abandoned office two stories up. It’d been their impromptu meeting place once upon a time, and they’d continued using it for the last six months with no complaints.

“Cutting it close there, Barton?” Bucky says, before slowly assessing the man in front of him. He looks like a complete mess. His hair is sticking in every direction, looking like golden stacks of straw tossed about. His gear is half falling off of his shoulders, and he’s not even bothering to readjust it. At least his shoelaces look to be tied together this time.

Barton yawns, before haphazardly opening up the bag in his hands. Bucky’s surprised he didn’t notice it, but then again Barton can be deceptive when he wants to be. He tosses something out of it towards Bucky, who catches it. “I brought you breakfast, you ingrate.” Bucky inspects the contents carefully, unsure if he should trust it. It looks to be a chicken salad sandwich, which is a little strange for breakfast. Barton is a little strange, though, so Bucky doesn’t usually question the weird things he does anymore.

“You should focus less on breakfast and more on mission prep.” He replies. Barton's been bringing food more often than not before they start missions. While the action is nice, Bucky would prefer Barton take care of himself first.

“You’re a growing boy, Barnes. Gotta keep your strength up.” Barton replies, before unpacking his own sandwich. Bucky ignores the comment, taking a bite out of his so-called breakfast. The second the taste hits his mouth, though, he promptly chokes and spits it back out.

“You’re not dying, are you?” Barton questions. He doesn’t actually look concerned about Bucky’s health, but there’s something there that Bucky can’t quite point out.

“Who uses sour cream in this?” Bucky throws the sandwich at him, which Barton catches easily and takes a bite out of. He scowls in response, but Barton doesn’t otherwise react much.

“Tastes fine to me,” he says with his mouth half-full, and Bucky has to take a second not to strangle the idiot.

He narrows his eyes before saying, “Payback’s going to be a bitch, Barton.” He takes a breath before continuing, “Mission parameters are to destroy data from a nearby AIM research warehouse. Intelligence says MODOK is revamping his technology that drains superheroes of their powers.”

“So, are we blowing the whole thing sky high? That thing wrecked us the first time.” Barton remarks, thankfully after his mouth is clear.

“The Director would prefer to continue espionage missions on the base rather than losing out on a source of information. No explosions this time.” Bucky tells him, as Barton wipes his mouth. Bucky smirks to himself seeing the streak of white leftover on Barton’s chin. It earns him a confused look, which Bucky shrugs off. If Barton wants to be a mess, Bucky’s allowed to laugh at him.

As they’re about to head down the stairs, Barton says something that Bucky doesn’t catch. “What’s that?” Bucky calls behind him.

“Said that it’s weird, isn’t it? Steve being the Director now?” He asks it like it’s a nonissue, but they both respect Steve in the same way. It’s why, despite their glaring differences, they’ve always worked together so well. The fundamental respect and understanding of what it means to have Captain America as your mentor is something they have in common.

“It’s a hell of a lot better than Stark,” Bucky tells him. Stark is a good man, but he should never be left in charge of things.

“True,” is all he gets as a response. Sometimes he wonders what Barton’s real opinion is on what happened between the teams, but he shelves it for now. 

They take Bucky’s bike back to the facility. It’s only a thirty minute drive from the city to the warehouse, and Barton’s blessedly silent behind him for the duration of the ride. Steve had encouraged them to go closer to dawn, unlike the majority of their stealth operations.

According to the intelligence, the rotation shift would have the least amount of guards in the building at this time. The original reconnaissance team would have been assigned to go in, had they not been mostly rookies. This technology had destroyed their team once, taking out even an unenhanced like Barton. They needed to make sure that this creation wasn’t remade and scaled up in power. Bucky’s wonders how Barton's going to perform today, since it's something he was personally there for.

There are some days where Barton is the top of the field; the kind of mission partner that anyone would kill for. His shots are insane to most, and he has the kind of aura that makes you think twice before crossing him. Then there are days where he makes Bucky wish he could ditch him somewhere and finish the mission on his own. Not that Barton is less useful in the field; just for every problem fixed he causes another one. Today seems to be the former, and he’s grateful with the seriousness involved.

It’s not that Barton can’t take things seriously, he can. It’s that he chooses not to with such a high consistency rate that it crawls under Bucky’s skin. He’s seen the ruthless efficiency Barton possesses first hand. He has the skills, the knowledge, and the raw ferocity despite not having any powers.

It’s just that Barton has an attitude problem a mile wide and a habit of showing off at the wrong time. He also acts like the outcome of events doesn’t matter to him, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Barton cares about how things turn out, more than most in fact. Yet he chooses to make impulsive, split decisions rather than calculated risks. Sometimes this allows for enemies to underestimate him for being the only human on the team. Not that villains typically realize what it takes to be a normal human on a team of supers. It works to his advantage, sure, but it would be more effective if Barton didn’t sometimes buy into the ploy that he’s actually an idiot.

Bucky’s just hoping today really will be one of Barton’s better days.

A few minutes before they’re due to arrive, Barton leans up against him. “How much longer?” He murmurs into Bucky’s ear, close enough to where Bucky can hear him despite the high speed winds. Barton’s hands have been sitting low on Bucky’s hips the whole ride, but now it suddenly feels much more intimately than it originally did.

“We’re not far now,” Bucky calls back to him, willing his heart rate to go back down. Despite the answer, Barton doesn’t move away from Bucky. Probably to annoy him in a typical Barton sense, Bucky figures.

Once they arrive, they don’t speak. They’ve run these missions so often together at this point that they don’t actually need to communicate much further than hand signals. Breaking into the warehouse is like child’s-play. Scaling the roof and finding a way down from the roof access is something even the rookies could have done. Bucky wonders why they didn’t send them in after all until he sees the lower levels.

The security down there is much higher, with every door having a separate personalized locking mechanism. Leave it to AIM to complicate everything, Bucky grouses to himself. Luckily, Steve’s intelligence was accurate that there are hardly any guards on patrol. There was one stationed close to the entrance, but she was easy enough to avoid.

Something doesn’t seem right to Bucky, despite that. He signals for Barton to take point, giving him more time to figure out what exactly is bothering him.

They move through the warehouse very slowly. They go door by door, Barton hacking his way through security measures for each one, before picking the solid lock behind them. Bucky stands next to him, watching for any sort of movement that might give off their position, but there is none. He looks to Barton for a second, wondering why they’ve only dodged a single guard in the entirety of their time there.

He gets distracted though, noticing the way his shoulders move and the efficiency he has as he gets through the door. As it opens, Bucky considers how Barton is the definition of silence; his steps aren’t audible and even his weapon is completely quiet when fired. His bow is steady in his hands, despite previously being full of lock picks, and ready to shoot in an instant if need be.

From a professional standpoint, Bucky is always impressed when Barton manages to show this level of competence. From a personal standpoint, he’s at a complete loss because Barton is incredibly hot. This is something he’s known for a while, but tries very hard not to think about.

Bucky shakes it off, remembering the ridiculous way he’d left sour cream on his chin this morning. They’ve passed through two different security locks in a row at this point with little trouble. There’s another one up ahead of them though, and it looks to be more intense than the others. Barton immediately crouches down to get back to work at getting through it, and Bucky turns away as to not stare at him again while he’s working.

He doesn’t notice Barton has already made it through the door in record time, until Barton’s already a few steps through it. Bucky turns to follow him, just as a resounding screech echoes throughout the compound. Barton steps back towards the entryway just as the door slams shut and the security measures go into lock down. Bucky tries to get through on his own several times, but nothing he does will open the door.

He hears footsteps behind him and curses. Turning quickly, he fires three successive shots, taking each of the guards out of the game permanently. He’s not sure why he’s so angry when he knows that Barton is on his game tonight, but everything in him is gearing up to be reckless. He can’t have that right now. He looks at the door for a second, before taking a deep breath. When he lets it out, he’s made his decision to head back to rendezvous near where they arrived. It’s the closest location Barton would go to in a situation like this if he’s thinking clearly.

Bucky heads back out the way they came, hoping that his gut instinct to go rescue Barton is wrong.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Bucky knows his gut instinct was right. He’s paced a path in the grass already worrying himself reckless, whether he wants to admit it or not. Barton’s definitely been caught by now, if not worse, and he needs to at least radio it in before he charges back inside.

He calls Steve’s direct number, unwilling to deal with anyone else right now. It takes only a few minutes for the call to complete, and it’s stiff and formal. Neither Steve nor Bucky truly trust SHIELD with sensitive information after all the disasters they’ve caused lately, even if Steve is running the show now. He gets permission to do whatever he needs to in order to get Barton out safely, though, and that’s what matters.

There’s a small, secured compartment under the seat of his bike that he uses to stash extra mission gear. He opens it up and pulls out a few emergency explosives and a detonator. He tucks them away on his person before heading back towards the base. Mission or not, if they’ve harmed Barton in any way, shape, or form then they’ll face his retribution.

Getting back inside the same way twice doesn’t seem like the smartest of options. Instead, Bucky finds an unguarded entry point around the back and picks his way through it. There’s more guards to avoid this time around, but it’s not of any consequence to Bucky. He dodges them with ease for now, focused on staying out of a firefight before he gets to Barton.

He combs his way through the first floor, knowing the second doesn’t have the level of security to hold Barton in the slightest. It takes longer than he’d prefer, but he wants to make sure he doesn’t miss him on accident.

He doesn’t end up finding him on the first floor, but he does find a stairwell leading down. It’s a good sign for him so far that he hasn’t found a body or a blood trail yet. That means more than likely they’re just holding him somewhere, rather than killing him outright.

He gets through two more rooms before he stumbles into their room full of servers. He stops in long enough to plant some of the explosives and connect them to the detonator he has on him. After that he tucks the detonator away safely; it’d be no good to set it off before he and Barton are clear of this mess.

After dodging a few more guards and checking three more rooms, Bucky’s near the other side of the basement. There’s a locked door that has higher security than the others, but Bucky makes quick work of it regardless. He’s getting annoyed at constantly having to get through these security measures and prays he never has to step foot in an AIM base again. He knows he’s not that lucky, unfortunately. However, when the door finally opens, Bucky almost sighs with relief.

Barton’s there, alive and breathing. He’s strapped to a chair with two different sets of metal cuffs, and the chair is welded to the floor. That explains how Barton wasn’t already fighting his way out of this place, then. He’s sitting there shirtless, with no shoes, and absolutely covered in bruises. The first thing out of Barton’s mouth is him shout-whispering, “You left me behind, you dick!”

Bucky bristles at the comment, but he’s not wrong. “I thought you’d get yourself out. You were really on your game tonight. How’d they even get you?”

“I was busy trying to make sure you were safe when they overwhelmed me.” Barton’s tone isn’t accusatory, but it still makes Bucky pause. A feeling he doesn’t want to acknowledge or identify hits him, but he does his best to ignore it.

“I won’t let it happen again. Where’s your shirt?” As he finally unlocks one of Barton’s arms from the chair, Barton hisses.

“Shit, that smarts. Fuck if I know what they did with it after they cut it off of me. Knocked out two guys in the process, though.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Gear?” Bucky asks, as he works on releasing Barton’s other arm, more gently this time.

“Also don’t know.” With the last click of the lock, Barton shakes off the cuffs and immediately stands. He doesn’t look like he’s in any sort of pain, but Bucky knows better. Each and every one of those bruises are new, and for them to show up so quickly means that they must hurt quite a bit.

“How come they didn’t post a guard on you if you knocked two of them out?”

“I’m not enhanced. They assumed I wouldn’t eventually work my way out without shoes, or something.” Barton says with a mocking tone, and Bucky notices him wiggle his toes from the corner of his eyes. He has to hold back a snort at that.

Bucky pulls a spare gun out of it’s holster and tosses it to Barton. He looks a little silly standing there in just his pants, but it does something to him to see Barton holding a gun. Bucky takes in a breath before saying, “Jokes on them, then.”

There’s a light in Barton’s eye that means something, but Bucky’s not sure what. “Aww, Barnes, you do care,” he says, and Bucky rolls his eyes.

“I’d threaten to lock you back up and leave you here, but you’d probably just break out in twenty minutes anyways.” He then nods to the door. They head down the corridors silently at first. Bucky is the one to break the silence. “When I mentioned payback, earlier, I didn’t mean this.”

I know, Barnes. You’d send me a gross pizza or something, not let me get kidnapped.” Barton says, but Bucky’s gut is still rolling uncomfortably. Sure, he can’t stand Barton some days, but he doesn’t really want him to get hurt, either. Before they can say anything else, though, Bucky notices a guard ahead of them and pulls Barton towards the nearest open door.

It turns out to be a supply closet, and Barton is smirking at him. “What?”

“Seven minutes in heaven at an AIM base, Barnes? I’m flattered, but really this isn’t the time.” Barton lifts an eyebrow at him, and Bucky does his best not to react.

He really takes a moment to notice a few things in the moment, though, like how Barton is currently towering over him. Bucky has always known that Barton is taller, but being in cramped quarters and having to look up to Barton is really affecting him. Barton’s also shirtless and bruised, yet all the more attractive for it. Additionally, Barton is now acting like an absolute idiot in the middle of a mission. However, instead of biting his head off, Bucky’s fighting back a blush.

He’s spent months acknowledging that Barton is attractive without ever really admitting to himself that he is, in fact, attracted to him. Now that they’re in this position, though, it’s biting him in the ass for not having dealt with this sooner. At least he would have saved his dignity.

Barton doesn’t say anything as Bucky contemplates all this, just holds his gaze. Bucky tries for a glare, but it doesn’t work as Barton’s smirk only gets bigger. Bucky’s mouth is dry as he tries to think of a way to dig himself out of this hole.

He closes his eyes, just for a moment, before he feels a soft press against his lips. Without thinking, Bucky presses forward, leaning into him. As Barton pulls away, Bucky notices his smirk has been replaced with a soft smile.

All he can think about is how much gentler Barton is than he’d ever expected.

Bucky knows his blush has escalated by now, but instead of looking smug, Barton looks rather endearing. Bucky clears his throat before attempting to speak again. When he does, he asks, “Where did that come from?”

Barton raises an eyebrow at him, but the smile is still there. “I’ve been flirting with you for months, now. Seriously?”

Bucky huffs at him, “You’ve been frustrating the shit out of me for months, you mean.”

“So you did notice,” Barton’s eyes are dancing with mischievousness. Bucky doesn’t stop the urge to grab Barton by the back of the neck and bring him down for another kiss. It’s the easiest way to shut him up without yelling at him, he tells himself.

This kiss is, surprisingly, more intense than the last. He feels the scruff of Barton’s beard scruff scraping against his chin and revels in the feel of it. Bucky wraps his other arm around Barton’s neck, as he feels hands tugging at his hips to close the distance.

When Bucky breaks away to breathe properly, he reminds himself of where they are. He orients himself before saying, “Let’s go get your gear and get out of here”

This time, Bucky takes point. They keep themselves out of sight as they break into each room, looking for Barton’s missing gear. As they go through the basement, Bucky strategically places more explosive charges. Eventually they come to the room holding Barton’s gear, but his bowstring has been cut.

“Sweetheart, no, what did they do to you,” Barton whispers and for once Bucky doesn’t roll his eyes. He knows what it’s like when people mess with your shit.

They sneak into four more rooms, leaving two more explosives behind, before climbing their way back out of the warehouse. Getting out is easier than getting in, because many of the doors don’t lock both ways. Avoiding guards is the hardest part at this point, which is simple enough for both of them.

After they’ve gotten a ways away from the base, Bucky stops while pulling out the detonator. “Fireworks, nice.” Barton says, and Bucky hums in agreement.

“Steve told me to shut them down after I radioed in that you’d disappeared. I may have taken some liberties.” Bucky says, as he inputs the code to trigger the explosion. After the code is in, it only takes seconds for the explosions to start going off. He feels a pair of arms wrap around him, and Barton tucks his head against Bucky’s in order to watch.

They sit in silence as the base falls to ruin, and in it is a sort of vengeance claimed for Bucky. He wonders if Barton feels the same.

Eventually, Bucky pulls out of Barton’s grasp and starts heading back towards the bike. It doesn’t take Barton long to sidle up next to him. “Wanna grab lunch after this?”

“What, so you can poison me with sour cream again?” Bucky asks him, remembering the earlier stunt. He might like Barton, but he doesn’t want a repeat of that.

“C’mon, that was an accident.” Barton whines, and Bucky doesn’t really believe him.

“You know how much I hate it.” He says, remembering the different times they’ve talked about it over the years. Once on a rooftop, staking out a low level villain. Another time, with Natasha in tow, as her and Barton teamed up against him at a restaurant.

“It was leftovers from Simone. I hadn’t tried it yet.” There’s a hint of red in Barton’s cheeks as he says it. The gears are slowly turning in Bucky’s head as he remembers Barton mentioning he’d been flirting for months. Slowly the pieces click together; the obsession with sharing food, the posturing, and the consistently juvenile attitude. He’s not sure how he never noticed it before, because Barton’s always an idiot when he has a crush.

“If there’s any trace of sour cream anywhere, I’m gone,” Bucky says, but the threat in his voice sounds weak even to him.

“Whatever you say, Buck.” Clint replies, but that smile’s back. The one that turns Bucky’s stomach to mush because it’s so soft. He never thought that Barton was anything other than infuriating, but since seeing that smile he’s really starting to think otherwise.

He’s doesn’t know if Barton will still show up late to missions looking like an absolute mess. He doesn’t know if Barton will still act like he never takes anything seriously, or like he’s less competent than he really is. He doesn’t know if whatever it is they’re building will last for long, or if they’ll just annoy each other too much for it to pan out.

He is sure, though, that Barton is going to drive him up a wall some days with his ridiculous stunts. He knows that they’ll bicker constantly about nonsense things, and yet despite that Bucky knows that Barton will always have a heart of gold and the best intentions. He’ll bend over backwards to help anyone with the slightest of problems, and Bucky's realizing that means for him, too.

Knowing all of that, he thinks, that maybe they’ll figure it out in the long run.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a blast writing this, honestly, and had like a gentler image of TOS in my head the whole time. These two nerds are my favorite to write all the time, ever, period. 
> 
> Actual notes: I used Clint's last name instead of his first on purpose. Growing up, using last names with no title (Mr/Ms/etc) shows a sense of camaraderie and trust without a sense of familiarity. Like "we trust each other inexplicably, but aren't emotionally familiar with one another" levels, which is why I chose to do that. It was pretty tough to do, though, I had to use a word finder and manually take out so many Clints, oof. 
> 
> ALSO I really wanted to write in Clint still tasting like sour cream during the kiss and Bucky being grossed out by it but the words would not happen so we get what we get, friends. I wanted to tell you, though, because it would have been funny. 
> 
> Title Song: On the Low by Tove Styrke, more Clint's POV than Bucky's tho


End file.
